30/09/2012 Sunday Politics East Midlands

In the East Midlands, on why do people hate politicians? And

searchers in debt, at the first students to face fees of �9,000 the

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2117 seconds

Good morning. Do you hate to MPs? And coming up: A grapple people who

may have reasons to dislike politicians.

The first students paying up to �9,000 in fees. Joining me, Gloria

de Piero, as a form of journalist she is no stranger to television

but this is her debut on our show. And the Conservative MP Nigel Mills.

He is back for his second appearance.

Gloria, you have this unusual campaign at the moment asking

everyone why they hate you. Politicians, and generally. So, yes.

We have all seen all the evidence. It is not great, but I thought, I

want to go further than that. I want to hear it from people's minds.

I want to hear their anger, if you like. The I have done some groups

were politicians do not always go. I started off in an aerobics class

in Essex. I went to a golf club in Yorkshire and had two events this

week in the East Midlands. I talked to some warehouse workers, and also

some bingo players. And you have even set up a Twitter account. What

sort of response have you had to that? It is not great. No-one likes

you? They are very sceptical, maybe even the cynical. I am not sure

they think we are in it for the right reasons, I am not sure they

believe or trust us. They do not think we understand our lives. We

have to wake up about this. What can we do about it, Nigel? That is

the million dollar question. I think the whole expenses scandal is

a large part of this. We need to put that behind us and show people

it is not going on. As politicians we need to act in a more grown-up

manner, say what we really believe and stick to what we say. Those are

the things I think people really hate. Here is what people had to

say when we asked them what they thought of their MPs. I feel that

sometimes they're not in touch with the public. They tried to put their

needs first rather than everyone else's. They need to be more

straightforward and honest with people. They seem to be out for

themselves and not the public. were nodding your head the hallway

through that, you have your work cut out, don't you? Very familiar

messages, that is what people have been saying. Be possible solution

is when I have said to people, you can do it. They say, where would we

start? I have met some really talented, bright passionate people.

Why don't you become a counsellor? In fact, Sharon said to me, it is

not advertised at the JobCentre. It is a challenge for political

parties. Are we reaching out to people who could be fantastic in

the community. I think they're better off being the butt of a few

jokes in the bar, it is worse when they patronise the public and tried

to be your friend. There is something to say about honesty like

Boris Johnson. Maybe he is saying you're just trying too hard to be

her friend. And not at sure. They have to see that we are real people.

I do not come from a particular background, my parents thought I

was mad coming into this particular game. There is a difference between

people whose grandfathers and fathers have done it. We have more

than our fair share of marginal seats in the region and in most

places it's a fight between Labour and Conservatives. As Ed Miliband

prepares to set out his conference stall, how does he plan to hold on

to marginal seats? Our political editor asked how East Midlands

plans to win back for Labour. People had a worries are the last

election about economic issues. People wanted change, but see

things going backwards not forwards. They see a double-dip recession and

are thinking, at there must be a better way. We can get our young

people working again by taxing bankers bonuses. That is a key

issue isn't it. The bedrock of the economy are the small businesses,

what is Labour's messages? There are shocking figures on long-term

youth unemployment in the East Midlands. We will get them back to

work. One of the things we will be talking about is how I can make the

banking system work better for small businesses. Small businesses

want to know their local bank is working for them. Police

commissioners, two it of the Labour candidates in the East Midlands did

down, it does it matter they had those misdemeanours when they were

young and should the rules be revisited. As think people will

think it is rough justice. If you commit a serious offence, and all

criminal offences are serious, then people may say, you cannot be a

police commissioner. Before these elections are the rules are the

rules. After the elections we will look at them. Gloria de Piero is

going around the country listening to why people have a slightly

negative view towards elected politicians. Au backing her in this

mission? Definitely. It is a really good she is doing it. We will be

starting the conference talking to members of the public, not the

party faithful. They know some of the reasons why. People think we

break our promises and wonder would things be different under us. They

would. You got the thumbs up from Ed Miliband. How would you hold on

to your marginal seat? Just by working hard. When I get on that

train on Monday to Parliament, and we know what happens down there, my

heart slightly since. I come back on a Wednesday night or Thursday

and they know I am going to be what real people. And I can do things.

You can affect people's lives and that is the job for all stock it is

an uphill struggle, the Lib Dems were a big threat to you last time

and it nearly cost you your seat. Yes, I am just going to work hard.

I hope that is all people expect of their politicians, that they do

their best. Party political broadcast over. Nigel Mills, what

about you? Q and a marginal seat, you cannot be complacent. It is a

swing seat. In government there are a lot of hard decisions to make. If

people find this very difficult. I agree with Gloria, it is all about

hard work to improve the lives of our constituents. Is there a

particular issue your constituents want you to tackle? The main issue

is the economy, people's jobs, how much money people have to spend.

Miliband said in that film, you see unemployment is a key issue. It is

a big problem in your area, Gloria, isn't it? It is way above the

national average. The actual rise in the last year in youth

unemployment is 280 per cent. We did have schemes to tackle that

when we stood for election. We guaranteed a everybody between

those ages add job or a training scheme or education. But that has

not worked, has it? We are talking about this rise. It has gone up. I

do not think that the Government is taking this seriously enough. It

does not make economic sense to be paying benefits to people who want

to work. It is heartbreaking when you meet young people who do not

even get replies when they are applying for jobs. It is nonsense

to suggest people are just sitting there. It is destroying people's

confidence. What about in your area, youth unemployment is above the

national average but it is not great either. His is a terrible

situation. The Government have invested huge amounts in

apprentices. There are various programmes to help people into work,

there's a job placement scheme. All of those things are there to give

young people the experience they need. It is the key priority and

the thing we all worry about. One of the big priorities is to sort

this out. We need to sort it out by creating a skilled jobs for people.

The previous government was short term. It takes time to rebalance

the economy. How long can we wait for that to happen? If there was a

magic wand, we would have weighed it. We are trying to make it easier

to employ people in the first place, provide support for training.

agree you need economic growth, the creation of jobs. Sadly, we have

not got that. When we left office, there were tentative steps of

growth. But since that Comprehensive Spending Review that

happened when the new government came in, no growth, flat lining.

Schemes are important and we say if you can use money from the bankers

bonuses tax and use that to get some a young people into jobs, that

is money well spent. Ed Miliband talked about police commissioner

elections, there is huge concern about a low turnout. In the East

Midlands are people aware of these elections? I have been out on the

streets with Simon Spencer the Conservative candidate for

Derbyshire. When you explain it to people, they are interested in it.

Do people care? We need to get out there and show people about these

elections. People care about policing and crime. These people

will make a big difference to their communities. Do people in your area

care, Gloria? They do not because there has been so little

information about it. We go out every week could door knocking. We

will be promoting our candidate, but it is crazy to have an election

in November. It is freezing, it is dark by 5:00pm, that will depress

turnout and that is something which politicians can have some say over.

We will see how it all turns out. As hundreds of thousands of

students go to university, this year's freshers face new fees of up

to �9,000. Many have decided the cost is too much to bear. The

University of Derby has seen a 25% drop in applications.

They may have the world at their feet, but these freshers at the

University of Derby also face a colossal debt on their back. Tom

and Beth are paying tuition fees of up �7,500. With the economy the way

it is, getting a job will be even harder. It is where the university

is value for money. There are certain parts which can be

overwhelming when you have to think how much debt you will get in.

Obviously paying for your accommodation as well as university.

It is a lot to take on. Tom and Beth are not letting debt spoil the

fun of Freshers' week. This university is doing its best to

contain fees, the average fee being �7,400. Applications were down

nationally and we reflected that trend. The uncertainty about the

new fees regime this year has probably put off some students at a

time when there has never been a more important time to go to

university. The burden of student debt is immense. The National Union

of students estimates those paying �9,000 tuition fees will, once

living costs are added, graduate owing on average �53,000. What does

all this mean for students? Freshers' week is changing. Once it

was a pretty simple affair, drink a lot, fend off the combined forces

of Christians, Socialist Workers and Conservative students and just

have fun. Now, they attend seminars on making yourself employable.

come from quite a poor background. I do not want to be in the same

position that my parents are in. I work hard, want to get myself into

a good job and hopefully make money in the future with the skills I

have learnt. Higher fees certainly seemed to have focused the mind of

these students. Gloria, you have a degree in social sciences and Nigel,

I believe you did classics. Would you have paid �9,000 a year for

those courses? Think about it. think there might have struggled to

convince myself. University is a great experience. Would it have

affected your decision? I might have done something a little bit

more job based. But actually think you do a subject you're interested

in and you're good at. Getting a job at the end is important for

people now, you need to see the links. What about you, Gloria?

loved it and I enjoyed it, but what I was conscious of at university is

you do want to get that bit of an edge over your peers. I threw

myself into it lots of things like being a course ralph... So you

would have found him the money then? You pay it back. Some kids

are out there do think they have to find �9,000... But they have to pay

it back at some point. You would pay less under Labour. I know it is

still a lot, but you would be better off, you would definitely

pay less under Labour. I just wonder if we need to be more

imaginative about how we do university. It is awful to face

that level of debt. Maybe the kind of way we do degrees for three

years, could we condense them? should the students be done out of

the chance you had of three or four years? Do you remember when you

arrive at university in a tall, your first year does not account

for anything. I think some of your viewers might be surprised by that.

You both come from areas with lower numbers of people going on to its

higher education. This is not going to help, is it? We need people with

qualifications. That is why we did not want to cut university funding

so less people would go. We wanted to find a way to get universities

their extra money they needed. result we are seeing a drop in

applications. Universities are a great experience if you were able

to go, and if you want to go. You will not have to peg back until you

earn more than 21,000 the year. It is not quite the terrible debt that

people think they will have. When a tiny number of people went to

university, it could be free. Widening access was so important.

15,000 fewer university places because of the cuts to the

university teaching ground. That really worries me. You could argue

that university is not for everyone and not everyone should go to

university. We need people with a broad range of skills.

Apprenticeships and vocation training are very important for

people who prefer that way and are better suited to that way. Is it

fair to ask those who do not go to university to pay for those who do?

The system is there, we have tried to make it as fair as possible.

What about kick-starting the economy, we need people with

degrees in engineering... Absolutely. That is why we're

finding proper quality courses. talked about this Caporn fees that

Labour would bring, a 6,000 pined cap. How would you make on -- make

up the shortfall? There was a corporation tax cut for all

businesses, we would reverse that for just the banking industry and

use that. We would also make that 10% of best earning graduates pay

more. So another tax on graduates? Everybody would pay less, but if

you're in the top 10% of earners we think it would be fair for you to

pay a bit more. Everyone apart from the top 10% earners would pay less.

I think it is right that you pay back what you spend otherwise

universities will be charging whatever they like. I suppose time

will tell if people do actually pay it back in the end.

Time to catch up on her other main stories of the week.

There is growing pressure on a Derbyshire councillor who made a

joke about the shooting of two per David Stevenson has apologised and

was removed from his Cabinet post. Members of the Police Federation

want him to step down as a councillor. With the benefit of

hindsight, I would not do it for all stock Nottingham South's MP has

welcomed the report into the cancellation of 3,000 hospital

operations in her city. The Labour MPs said the closure of 96 beds

added to the problem. There is a new leader at

Leicestershire's County Hall. He has promised a more collegiate

style. Liberal Democrats from Leicester

have won a top award at their annual conference for promoting

And there we were earlier in the programme talking about whether

people love or hate politicians and then we get ill-advised comments

like we heard David Stephenson making. What do you think about

that? It does nothing for your reputation as politicians? I cannot

imagine what he was thinking. I cannot think why he would say it.

Should he resign? He has been stripped of his Cabinet post. He

has apologised, it seems a lot of punishment. It is embarrassing for

your party. Yes. There had been a few silly mistakes recently,

haven't they? Gloria, you're off to Manchester, Party politics on the

menu. I also hear you're partial to karaoke. Could this be true?